U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,773 discloses a conventional linear peristaltic pump for pumping a fluid in a flexible tubing. The peristaltic pump includes a housing formed with a plurality of backing blocks which are aligned with one another along the length of the flexible tubing, a plurality of pumping plates disposed below and aligned with the backing blocks along a direction transverse to the length of the flexible tubing, a plurality of reshaping fingers operatively coupled to and alternately disposed with the pumping plates along the length of the flexible tubing, a drive shaft extending through the pumping plates, a plurality of cams connected to the drive shaft for driving the pumping plates to move up and down so as to compress the flexible tubing against the backing block and to release the flexible tubing from the compression. The reshaping fingers serve to reshape the compressed flexible tubing toward its original cross-sectional shape and an opened condition. As rotation of the drive shaft continues, the pumping plates are driven to move in a wave-like action, thereby pumping the fluid through the flexible tubing.
The structure of the conventional peristaltic pump is relatively complicate and bulky.